Transportable bridge



May 29, 1934. M. TAMINI TRANSPORTABLE BRIDGE 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 22, 1951 xm um May 29, 1934. M. TAMINI 1,960,355

TRANSPORTABLE BRIDGE Filed July 22, 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 L L L d I b May 29, 1934. M. TAMINI 1,960,355

TRANSPORTABLE BRIDGE Filed July 22. 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 t I c k z May 29, 1934. M. TAMINI 1,960,355

TRANSPORTABLE BRIDGE Filed July 22, 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 y 1934 I M. TAMINI 1,960,355

TRANS PORTABLE BR IDGEI Filed July 22, 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 z A 4 A a z awe/whom May 29, 1934. M TAMlN] 1,960,355

TRANSPORTABLE BRIDGE I Filed July 22, 1931v 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Emma/whom Patented May 29, 1934 TRANSPORTABLE. BRIDGE Mario Tamini, Milan,1. Italy Application July 22, 1931, Serial No. 552,450. In Italy, January 15;,1931" 3 Glaimst I (Cl..189-'11) In large towns'with many-aerial electric lines,

one sees every day thetedious, slow and expensive.

5 lighting plant, telephones, and for the services inherent thereto (lamps etc.). The work must be carried out in separate, very short stages because of thenecessity of continuallyaltering-theposition of the mechanically, or horse-driven car.- riage in order not tointerrupt thestreet traffic In towns, also the inconvenience or impossibilityis often experienced ofmaking use of the ordinary aerial ladders in connection with short andv urgent. work to be carried out on the building fronts, though their use would otherwise beeconomieal and rational in many cases. Finally it is well known that when a fire breaks out in a. building, most serious diificulties and dangersmust be. met by the firemen in their rescue work when they mustemploy such aerial ladders inorder to handle.- the flexible hoses or to lower the buildinginmatesv on to the ground. It isfurther wellknown that the handling of aerial ladders diflicult, slow and often-dangerous due to-the ladder resting on inclined. groundand because the men below-do not. well see what is going on at the topof the ladder, and the men at the ladder top'are not in a situation to give prompt and precise directionsito the men below. I

There-arealready existingtransportable bridges: mounted on an extensible column, but they arev complicated, heavy, and unsuitable for great heights.

The present invention'relates to a transportable. bridge which affords a better solution of theabove mentioned and other similar problems. Among other advantages, it permits ofv thestreet: traflic not being interrupted by work that is beingcarried out, without discontinuance, on: electric lines and building fronts; of making the building: fronts or the electric lines accessible even when the car cannot be brought too near owing; to-the flames or to the presence of gutter-pipes or other impediments; of rendering the transport: of persons'and materials'in. upward or downward directionsafe and? easy; of altering the position of the bridge quickly and with the required accuracy,.even if the apparatus does not. rest. on level. groundfand' even if the men beiow' cannot wellfseesthe bridge or receive the necessary directions: for-the. small displacements The apparatus forming the subject matter of thepresent invention consists inthe combination of a carriage or autovehicle with a hydraulically extensible telescopicrtube, the'tube'having; a: Carclan. support near its. foot and a horizontally displaceable bridge at its top.- The bridge, which may also be of telescopic type, not only can be suitably. andautomatically balanced, but it can be so constructed as to. permit of its being'anchored to and supported" by the building front. The apparatus may also comprise the combination of the'abovesaid parts with an elevator andwith the necessary control devices, all of which. may. becontrolled fromthe bridge, if: desired either mechanically or electrically in order to effect the hoisting, righting (automatic or otherwise) and soon.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, the apparatus: is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being however distinctly. pointed out that the specific exemplary embodiments shown are not meant to limit the range and scopeof theinvention forming the subject; of the: present. specification.

Fig. 1. isa. side View showing' the-apparatus. in

trayellingcondition: (full lines) and in working condition (dot and. dash lines). a

Fig. 21s a front viewer the apparatus inworking condition, restingonsloping ground-andwith the-bridge anchored to a windowsill.

Fig: 3; is a further side view of the; apparatus. in a working condition;- 7

Figs 4-5-6 show some structural details ofthe telescopically supported bridge.

Figs. 7 and 8 are further views of the general arrangement. of an apparatus of somewhat dif-. ferent form, in travelling aswell as in. working condition in. the act of approaching a street lamp withoutcausing; any interruption of the tramway traflic.

Fig; 9' is a detail, vertical section showing; the Cardanic suspension of the extensibletube.

Fig. 10is a detail cross section'of the extensible tube indicating the guiding, tongues.

Fig. 11 is a side elevation; partly; in section, of the. transportable bridge, the; figure being. diagrammatic in parts. 3

Fig; 12- is. a: vertical section showing; the-mechanism: for revolving the-bridge.

Figsrl and 3 refer-to the'invention asembodied inan apparatus permitting the attainment. of great heights; The. apparatus is composed primarily ofa vehicle V, preferably amotor truck, a hydraulically extensible telescopic tube 0 mounted thereon, and a bridge D- supported by the upper sectionof the'tube. The-rear portion of' the vehicleiis shown as resting on four wheels A. in. order to secureafirmsupportforthe tube C; 'itvwill. however be understood; that the apparatus may rest on the ground (instead of through the intermediary of the wheels and springs) through the intermediary of any of the known devices, by means of which such systems are rigidly supported on the ground. The vehicle frame is built in the shape of a tower at B for connection of the telescopic tube C thereto and for supplying a supporting surface forthe platform D while-travelling. The connection of the tube C to the tower B is made through a Cardanic joint M (Fig. 2) which makes it practicable to extend the telescopic tube C vertically even when the carriage A rests on sloping ground. To accomplish this result the axis of the lower section of the telescopic column must be previously adjusted.

Any suitable adjusting means may be employed. The one shown consists of a group of set screws 10 (Fig. 9) bearing against the four sides of a square portion 11 of the lowest tube section; Before the tube is extended the screws 10 are slackened until the tube is hanging freely from the Cardanic joint. At this time the center of gravity of the extensible system is below the Cardanic joint M, the tubes being nested within the lowest section which is suspended at its top by the Cardanic joint. The tubes will therefore assume a vertical position. The screws 10 are now brought to bear against the shoulder 11 without altering the position of thetube. When the tube is extended it will stand in a stable vertical position. I

Any suitable hydraulic system may be used to extend the tube. The drawings showa system for operation by oil held in a storage tank on the truck and is similar to a water pressure system shown in Patent 670,548, except that the tank which in that patent holds water for ballast, in this case stores oil for extending the tube; Around the inside of tower B is an oil storage tank 15 capable of holding sufficient oil'to extend the tube C to its upper limit. The suction side of an oil pump 16 is connected to the tank near its bottom by a. pipe 17 containing a valve 18. The pressure side 'ofthe pump is connected by a pipe 19 with the bottom of the lower section of thetube- C, the connection being made below the lower ends of all the inner'sections of the tube. The pipe lQ containsa valve 20 and is composed in part of a'flexiblesection 21 to allow for the movement of the lower end of tube C asit tilts upon its Cardam'c joint. Between pipes 17 and 19 is a return pipe 22 controlled by a valve 23. The oil pump 16 is driven by an electric'motor 25 which receives its current from a storage battery 26 charged by the motor of the truck.- The switch for controlling the motor may be mounted upon the bridge, as indicated at 28, in which case an extensible take up device of any suitable known form, indicateddiagrammatically at 29, will be insertedin the wires 2'? and 26 running from the switch to the battery andmotor respectively. The operation is as follows: 7

The telescopic tube 0 having first been set in vertical position as described above, valves 18 and 20 are opened and valve 23 closed. Switch 28 is thrown in and the motor started. Oil is now pumped from the-tank 15 into tubeC and the tube begins to extend. Valve23'm'ay include a safety device (not shown) to by-pass the oil back to pipe 17 when the tube C reaches its limit position. Valve-20 may be closed to hold the tube in any position of extension. The tube'canb'e lowered by opening valves 20 and 23. Valve 18 serves to hold the oil in the tank' 15 while the ,is preferably arranged so that as the bridge expump 16 is being repaired. The control of the extension of the tube from the bridge makes it possible to adjust the bridge to correct height easily and accurately.

The sections of the extensible tube C are provided with means of known kind for preventing their relative rotation. These may take the form of tongue and groove devices such as shown in the patent to G. W. Rich No. 261,874, and in Fig. 10 of this application. Each tube section 35 has on its inner surface a tongue 36 engaging a corresponding groove 37 on the outer surface of the next inner tube section 35.

The bridge D is of telescopic construction and tends outward in one direction a corresponding counterbalance will be automatically moved out in the opposite direction. The counterbalancing weight may be supplied by extensible bridge sections corresponding to those on the opposite end, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, by a special weight for the particular purpose of counterbalancing, or by a slidable winch operating an elevator, as shown in Fig. 11. Any suitable form of reversely operating shifting mechanism can be employed to automatically extend the bridge sections and counterbalancing devices. One form of mechanism for this purpose is shown in combination with the slidable winch and elevator in Fig. 11, and the same mechanism can be used with a special counterbalance weight, or with oppositely extending bridge sections. The particular mechanism shown is of the type illustrated in connection with a counterbalanced crane in the patent to Ralph Bagley, No. 369,423. Upon the main section 40 of the bridge is slidably mounted an extensible section 41. To the inner end of section 41 is pivoted a rack bar 42 which meshes with a pinion 43 driven by a motor 44.

On the opposite end of the central section 40 of 1 15 the bridge is slidably mounted a winch E upon which is wound a cable 45 for the supension of an elevator cage G. To the inner end of the winch frameis pivoted a rack bar 46 meshing with the lower side of pinion 43. The two rack bars 42 and 46 are held in engagement with pinion 43 by counterpressure rollers. The motor 44 receives its current from battery 26 through an extension of wire 27 and a reversing switch 48. When the switch '48'is closed in one direction, motor 44 turnspinion 43 counterclockwise and drives the rack bars 42 and 46 outward, whereby section 41 of the bridge is extended and winch E is moved out correspondingly as a counterbalance. Section 41 and. winch E are pulled inward again by throwing switch 48 in the opposite direction.

1 When it is deemed necessary, owing to the large amount of overhang or because heavy loads are: to be handled, provisional counterweights can be resorted to and the elevator cage G made use of for this purpose.

The bridge sections are secured to the upright C or to the cross beam I-I (Fig. 3) by means of guy-ropes Z arranged in pairs.

The bridge can make a complete revolution through 360 and for this purpose the cross beam H and the central thimble 50 of the bridge are pivotally mounted on the ,post C by means of step bearings 51 and 52, as shown in Figs. 4 and 12; a On the post C is fixed a worm wheel 53 held against rotation with respect to the post by means of a key 54 engaging in a slot 55 of the post. A reversible electric motor 56 is mounted on the inner wall'of thimble 50 and carries on its 'drive shaft a worm 5'7 meshing with worm 150 wheel 53. The motor receives its current from battery 26 through an extension of wire 2'7 and a reversible switch 58. The motor can be driven in either direction by throwing switch 58 one way or the other and the bridge will be correspondingly turned.

Where the bridge is to be used as a fire escape, or for repairing the walls of buildings, the counterbalancing device can be supplemented by means of various kinds of gripping devices adapted to secure the outer end of the bridge to the house. One form of gripping device is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 6, and this one being adapted to engage a window sill. It comprises downwardly extending tongues 60 and 61 suitably spaced to engage the inner and outer sides of the window sill. The bridge and the inner tongue 60 are sufficiently narrow to be inserted through the window.

Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the arrangement is susceptible of the most varied embodiments, either in that some of the described parts are omitted with the exception of the fundamental ones, or in that the form or the several structural and constructional details borrowed from what already is public property are altered.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:

1. The combination with a vehicle, of a hydraulically extensible, telescopic tube, a Cardanic joint connecting the upper end of the lowermost section of said tube to said vehicle, and a bridge rotatably mounted at the top of said tube adapted to swing in a horizontal plane through an angle of 360, the center of gravity of said telescopic tube and bridge being below said Cardanic joint when said tube is collapsed, whereby said tube will automatically assume a vertical position.

2. The combination with a vehicle, of a hydraulically extensible, telescopic tube, a Cardanic joint connecting the upper end of the lowermost section of said tube to said vehicle, an extensible bridge rotatably mounted at the top of said tube, adapted to swing in a horizontal plane through an angle of 360, means on an end of said bridge for engaging a member of a building, the center of gravity of said telescopic tube and bridge being below said Cardanic joint when said tube is collapsed, whereby said tube will automatically assume a vertical position, adjusting means for fixing said tube in its vertical position, and means for counterbalancing the weights applied to the extensible bridge.

3. The combination with a vehicle, of a hydraulically extensible, telescopic tube, a Cardanic joint connecting the upperend of the lowermost section of said tube to said vehicle, an extensible bridge rotatably mounted at the top of said tube, adapted to swing in a horizontal plane through an angle of 360", means on an end of said bridge for engaging a member of a building, the center of gravity of said telescopic tube and bridge being below said Cardanic joint when said tube is collapsed, whereby said tube will automatically assume a vertical position, adjusting means for fixing said tube in its vertical position, means for counter-balancing the Weights applied to the extensible bridge, and control means on said bridge for extending said telescopic tube, for rotating said bridge in a horizontal plane and for counterbalancing said bridge.

MARIO TAMINI. 

